CNN has just reported that a Houston Chronicle reporter has filed a charge of gender discrimination with the EEOC alleging that she was fired because someone tipped off the paper that she was a part-time stripper. Her attorney, the well-known attorney Gloria Allred, said that this was gender discrimination because “Most exotic dancers are female, and therefore to terminate an employee because they had previously been an exotic dancer would have an adverse impact on women, since it is a female-dominated occupation."

Policies and practices that are on their face non-discriminatory may nevertheless violate Title VII because they have a “disparate impact” on members of a protected class.

The newspaper denies that she was fired for this reason, but in any event, was this adverse employment action based upon gender? Any thoughts?